


Crush Landing

by sunnynights



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Campaign: Amnesty (The Adventure Zone), Crush at First Sight, Fluff, Injury, No Plot/Plotless, Other, Pre-Canon, Selkies, they're babey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:28:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23704630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunnynights/pseuds/sunnynights
Summary: "I'm Jake, by the way.""Hollis." A few seconds of silence passed. "You're not from around here, are you?"
Relationships: Jake Coolice/Hollis
Comments: 6
Kudos: 72





	Crush Landing

Hollis dropped their bike on the trail, peeking out from between trees. There was someone else in the Monongahela. A boy with shaggy blond hair rode in a clearing, making tight turns and doing tricks. He was good. And Hollis knew good biking when they saw it.

Hollis' eyes followed him as he dropped down from a hill, back wheel high in the air. Their breath hitched as the boy shifted his weight wrong. He flipped, tumbling down and flying several feet from the bike. Hollis raced out to him as he laid in the dirt.

"Holy shit, are you okay?"

"Yeah, totally tubular." He tried to stand and winced, clutching his ankle. "Maybe not."

Hollis dropped to their knees. "Should I go get a forest ranger or something?"

"No!" The boy looked at them with wide eyes, bright blue like the Kepler sky. "Uh, can you help me to Amnesty Lodge?"

Hollis helped him to his feet and they began the slow, three-legged trudge into town.

"I like your hair!"

Hollis' fingers absentmindedly grazed the shaved side of their head. "Thanks. I'm thinking of dying it."

"Oh, do blue! It's my favorite color."

They had to smile a little at this enthusiastic request from someone they had just met. "I'll think about it."

"I'm Jake, by the way."

"Hollis." A few seconds of silence passed. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"How did you know?"

Hollis let out a short laugh. "Anyone can recognize a new face in Kepler. Nothing much happens here."

"I just moved from, uh...north."

Hollis cocked their head. "North like Morgantown or north like Canada?"

"The second one. Canada."

"Cool. You snowboard?"

Jake broke into a wide grin. "I love snowboarding! Not to brag, but I'm _kind_ of the best at it ever." His smile faltered a little. "I just need to get used to my new legs."

Hollis turned to him. _"What?"_

"Oh, it's, uh, a saying. In Canada."

"Some friends and I are starting a Kepler Stunt Club. You should come check it out."

"That is _so_ radical!"

The two of them stepped out of the Monongahela and into town. Hollis listened to Jake chatter away, trying not to stare at how the freckles across his nose danced when he smiled. Jake talked about every little thing with the excitement of someone who had never seen the world before. He made dry, dying Kepler seem...brighter.

It felt like too soon that they made it to the front door of Amnesty Lodge. As Jake hobbled into the lobby, Mama looked up from behind her wooden desk with a tired look.

"Jake Coolice, how many damn times do I gotta tell you to not to hurt yourself before you learn your lesson?"

"Sorry, Mama."

Hollis helped Jake into a chair, blushing at how tightly their arm had held his waist. Jake leaned back in the seat and grabbed their hand. He squeezed as he looked up at them.

"Thank you, Hollis. I hope we can hang out some time!"

For some reason, the feeling of Jake's hand in theirs made Hollis' cheeks flame. "I, uh, we can, yeah! I'll go get your bike!" They ran out of the Lodge, hoping the cold air would calm their redness. Hollis swiftly made it back into the forest, lifting their and Jake's bikes out of the dirt, when something colorful caught their eye. Jake had left his jacket, a windbreaker of neon pink, green, and blue. Hollis picked it up, fingers curling around the plasticky material. As they approached the Lodge for the second time that day, Hollis thought about not returning the jacket just yet. It _would_ give them another reason to see him.

Jake was still in the lobby, his leg propped up. He held an icepack as Barclay wrapped his ankle. "Hi, Hollis!"

"Your bike is in the rack out front. And I found your jacket." Hollis held it out. "I'll see you around, Jake."

It was Jake's turn to flush brightly. He took the jacket, stunned, and barely managed to squeak out a thanks before Hollis headed out. Jake watched them leave, his eyes as round and wide as the Green Bank Telescope.

"Did you see..."

"It doesn't mean the same thing as it does on Sylvain, Jake." Dani flipped through a magazine. "They were just being nice."

"Still, it was cute." Jake held his jacket close, covering his face as his heart did little flutters. "They're cute."

Hollis hopped on their bike and started to ride home. But first, they stopped at the Kepler General Store, slid some money to Leo Tarkesian, and left with a smile and several boxes of blue hair dye.

**Author's Note:**

> this has probably been done already but i somehow didn't realize jake coolice was a selkie until last night at 4am and needed to make this


End file.
